The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) has done something really cool and released a kind of 'how to' guide for cities who are considering setting up a bike-sharing program. It's a fantastic idea and I must give kudos to all those involved! The best way for bike-sharing to succeed and spread like kudzu is for the best practices of existing programs to be transmitted to new entrants. Otherwise, if every new bike-share has to reinvent the wheel, progress will be slow and we'll see many failures. But if they can benefit from the collective wisdom and experience of others, we're well on our way.

It does, according to a new study published in the B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy.

The study, conducted by Sudip Chattopadhyay and Emily Taylor of San Francisco State University, looked at the ways travel demand were impacted by the degree of “smart growth” in a given city. Their findings indicate that people are not as dependent on their cars as common wisdom might suggest. Instead, urban car use patterns are rather elastic. Just a 10 percent increase in “smart growth” amenities can reduce the number of annual vehicle miles traveled by 20 percent...
(16 September 2012)